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Page 16
The Iowa men were overpowered, and threw down their arms, some four
hundred of them, and were sent to the rear, and afterward to
Memphis. It was reported that this Iowa regiment had murdered the
sick men early in the day, and it was said that some of them were
bayoneted after they surrendered. I saw nothing of this, but it may
have been so. If so, the author of that accusation was responsible
for the barbarity.
I do not doubt such cruelties do sometimes occur in the heat of
battle, as there are in all armies some brutal men; but I must do
the Rebel officers the justice to state, that they always condemned
them, and warned us against acts not sanctioned by the laws of
civilized warfare.
The Federals, though fighting well, so far as I know, commenced
falling back between two and three P.M. The retreat soon became a
rout, and was a running fight to their boats, some three miles. The
Confederates pressed them hard, and recaptured several pieces of
artillery lost in the early part of the engagement, and did sad
execution on the running men; even after they reached the
gang-planks of their boats many were shot. I know of no reason why
the Union soldiers were routed, unless it was the better fighting of
the Rebels. The forces were about equal, and neither had much
advantage in ground. General Polk, the commanding general of the
Rebels, was not on the ground until near the close of the action,
and deserved no credit for the success of his men. General Pillow
and Brigadiers Cheatham and McGown, were the efficient commanders
that day.
Our wounded, about seven hundred, were carried to the rear during
the engagement, and forwarded to Memphis, and we returned and
recrossed the river to our camps about seven P.M., completely
exhausted. Our company lost, in killed and wounded, twenty-three;
the regiment, one hundred and fifteen.
The next day parties were detailed to bury the dead. Ours numbered
three hundred. We dug trenches six feet deep and four wide, and laid
the bodies in side by side, the members of each company together,
the priest saying over them his prayers; the whole closed by three
volleys of musketry. The Federal dead were also gathered, and buried
in like manner, except the religious services and military salute.
Our company buried their dead just before sunset; and when the
funeral dirge died away, and the volleys were fired over their
graves, many a rugged man, whose heart was steeled by years of
hardship and crime, shed tears like a child, for those bound to him
by such ties as make all soldiers brothers. One of the worst men in
the company excused this seeming weakness to a companion thus: "Tim,
I haven't cried this twenty year; but they were all good boys, and
my countrymen." The next day when the roll was called, and they
answered not, we thought of their ghastly faces as we laid them in
the trench, and hearts beat quick. When we sat down to eat and
missed a messmate, the query went round, "Will it be my turn next?"
A comrade's faults were now forgotten, his good qualities magnified,
and all said, "Peace to his ashes."
I may here say, that if one is compelled to fight against his
friends, as I was, there are several ways in which he can avoid
taking life. A cartridge without a ball, a pretended discharge
without a cap, or an extra elevation of the piece, will save his
friends and not expose him to suspicion. Not rarely, also, in the
heat of battle, a hated officer meets his fate by a ball from his
own men, instead of the enemy.
The second day after the battle a sad accident added to the gloom. A
crowd had assembled to see the monster Whitworth rifled gun fired
off, as it had continued loaded since the day of the fight. She was
named the "Lady Polk," and the militant bishop and general was
present to add interest to the scene. The gunner warned the crowd
that there was some danger, but they heeded not, and pressed close
around. The general stood near, why should not others? I stood
within thirty feet, and as the gunner ran back with the lanyard, so
did I. The next moment occurred the most terrific explosion I had
ever heard. As the dust and smoke lifted, we saw the shattered
remains of nine men; two more died subsequently from wounds received
here. Both the percussion-shell and the gun had burst, and hence the
destruction of life. General Polk narrowly escaped; his cloak was
swept from him and cut in two as with a sword.
A word of this man, who laid aside his spiritual for military
duties, will close my history of soldiering on the Mississippi.
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